Democratic nations are facing a host of monumental challenges, including a shifting world order, the rapid spread of misinformation, an aging population and a rapidly warming world. Time is of the essence for Canada to mitigate the impacts of these mega trends, said Andrew Coyne, political journalist with the Globe and Mail, in the keynote […]
While integrating private assets into target-date funds can give plan members income-generating and diversification benefits at an attractive risk profile relative to traditional asset classes, these assets aren’t without complications, said Brett Goldstein, senior vice-president and head of asset allocation portfolio management at Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions. Speaking during Benefits Canada’s 2025 Defined Contribution Investment […]
As institutional investors navigate complex markets and demanding governance requirements, Grace Uniacke, director of alternatives solutions at Russell Investments, suggests they move their portfolios from disconnected compartments towards integrated, connected systems. “This can be done in incremental tweaks, but more so as a structural upgrade to how we design, construct and manage institutional portfolios,” she said during […]
While voluntary carbon markets are a bit like the Wild West, carbon removals actually pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and sequester it, according to Aaron White, executive director and head of sustainable investing at CIBC Global Asset Management. “This is where we anticipate the biggest growth to take place within this industry,” he said during […]
A desire to diversify a heavy public equities portfolio led Montreal’s municipal pension plan sponsor to look more closely at alternative assets. Before the global financial crisis, more than 60 per cent of the City of Montreal’s portfolio was in public equities, said Errico Cocchi, its head of pension investments, during a session at the […]
An emerging trend in U.S. defined contribution investment strategies is the ‘blend trend,’ which is a target-date solution that allocates to underlying building blocks that are managed both actively and passively. During a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 DC Plan Summit, Jessica Sclafani, global retirement strategist at T. Rowe Price, shared data from the investment […]
Rather than a single defined contribution plan sponsor tackling the decumulation dilemma alone, decisions need to be reframed as a decumulation ecosystem, said Nicole Lomax, vice-president and portfolio manager in institutional asset allocation at TD Asset Management Inc. During a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 DC Plan Summit, she outlined the five decumulation priorities based […]
While the coronavirus pandemic is in the world’s rearview mirror, institutional investors are continuing to navigate a post-recovery period rife with uncertainty. Indeed, five years after the World Health Organization declared the pandemic on March 11, 2020, world markets are contending with a host of new challenges, including a raging Russia-Ukraine war, a budding tariff […]
In the social media age, it’s easier than ever to lose perspective on events and even institutional investors are susceptible to overreaction amid the avalanche of news and speculation that surrounds the second Trump administration, tensions in the Middle East and shifting market dynamics. But Nick Chamie, chief strategist and senior managing director of total […]
On Dec. 6, 2024, leaders from Canada’s defined benefit pension plan sponsor community, alongside thought leaders and investment experts, came together at the Omni King Edward Hotel in Toronto to shed light on 2024’s challenging economic landscape and make informed predictions about the hurdles and opportunities ahead. Find out what you missed! Canadian economy on high alert for impact […]